FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
By Ron Smith
November 14, 2017
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) A goal in the 26th minute by Maddi Berthoud is all that #9 Westmont (15-3-2) would need to advance to the second round of the NAIA National Championship. The Warriors blanked the Mountaineers of Eastern Oregon 1-0 in the opening round game to extend their NAIA Tournament record to an impressive 35-10-8 (.736).
 
"It's always an honor to host an opening round game in our national tournament and not to be taken for granted," said Westmont head coach Chantel Cappuccilli. "It takes a lot of work to get to this point in our season. A lot of hard work, grit, determination, buy in and leadership. The players have fought to get to this point and it was a joy to watch them cap off our final home game with a win. For our seniors especially, so many memories are formed on Thorrington, it's a special gift to seal their last home match with a victory."
 
Bri Johnson and Destinee Adams were credited with assists on the goal. From 10 yards shy of midfield, Adams sent a ball over the top. Johnson beat two defenders to the ball and with one touch, sent it along the ground and across the face of the goal. Berthoud, who was charging toward the net, slammed it home from three yards out for her 11th goal of the season.

"Ultimately, we knew our success in breaking down their backline needed to come from the width," said Cappuccilli. "Bri found herself in a good position to play a well-paced balled to Maddi making a successful third-player run."
 
The Warriors outshot the Mountaineers 14-6 with Westmont goalkeeper Gabi Haw producing saves on the only two shots on goal by Eastern Oregon.

"We had a fair amount of opportunities created, but one was enough to earn the result," noted Cappuccilli. "Our backline working for another shut out prior to heading to Alabama is substantial."
 
Alanna Richards, Renee Gonsalves, Haley Johnson and Kira Nemeth started as defenders for the Warriors with Haylee Lopes coming in and contributing 68 minutes to the defensive unit.
 
Following Thanksgiving, Westmont will travel to Orange Beach, Alabama, which is the site of the remainder of the National Championship. On Tuesday, November 28, Westmont will take on the seventh-ranked and 10th-seeded Cougars of Columbia (Mo.).

"Making it to the final site in Orange Beach is the desired destination come November," said Cappuccilli. "That's step one. But it's also time to get back to work and prepare for the next competition ahead. Making it to Alabama is part of the goal. Now we focus on the next game in front of us."
 
Columbia (21-1) advanced to the second-round game by defeating Siena Heights (Mich.) 1-0 for their eighth win in a row. The Cougars, champions of the American Midwest Conference, have outscored their opponents 103-6 this season. Their only loss came against William Woods (Mo.) on October 10.
 
The winner between Westmont and Columbia will advance to the quarterfinals on Wednesday, November 29 to take on the winner of the game between Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) and Spring Arbor (Mich.).


In other first round games, fifth-seeded Vanguard posted a 4-0 win over Northwest (Wash.) and 11th-seeded The Master's outscored Olivet Nazarene 1-0. The only seeded team to lose in the opening round was sixth-seeded Keiser (Fla.) who fell to Tennessee Wesleyan by a score of 2-1.